The brash, young Tyson Fury is gunning for greatness. As one of the best heavyweights in the world, the undefeated Fury is knocking on the door of greatness against one of the greatest fighters in the world, Wladimir Klitschko. But Fury must be careful not to poke the old lion, as he may find himself face down ass up on the canvas. Anything can happen in a heavyweight fight. Read on as we take a look at the biggest heavyweight fight the year has seen.
You absolutely cannot miss this fight. It has the makings of an all-time great along with the likes of Ali-Frazier. Speaking of all-time greats, check out our list of the 10 best boxing fights of all-time. You can also get plenty more information for this big heavyweight slugfest with our compilation of experts picks.
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Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury Preview
Where: Esprit Arena, Dusselforf, Germany
When: Saturday, November 28, 4:45 PM ET
Line: Wladimir Klitschko (-500) vs. Tyson Fury (+350); total 9.5 – view all Boxing lines
TV Broadcast: HBO Pay-Per-View
Betting on Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko is arguably the best technical heavyweight boxer walking the planet right now. He has amazing lateral movement and one of the best jabs in all of heavyweight boxing history. Assuming that Klitschko stands at 6-foot-6 weighing over 240 pounds, his jab certainly packs a wallop.
[sc:Other240banner ]Klitschko uses his jab to set up an arsenal of weapons. His lead left hook is deadly against unsuspecting opponents. Meanwhile, his straight right should be borderline lethal to lesser human beings as one of his finishing punches. But Klitschko could also be a boring fighter when he chooses to fight safe. He lands plenty of jabs before clinching up with his opponents, scoring points while his opponents fail to do so.
The Ukrainian boxer isn’t heading into this fight in his prime. He’s nearing the twilight of his career at 39 years of age. Klitschko also recently suffered from a calf injury, which could limit his production. An immobile Klitschko may be easy pickings for a very aggressive Tyson Fury. Klitschko also doesn’t seem all too durable assuming all his losses came via knockout, leading to some calling him glass-chinned.
Still, Klitschko’s three losses via knockout came earlier in his career. He’s already gained so much technical ability and experience to know how to roll with the punches. Klitschko could also turn off the aggressive Fury by putting on the pressure himself. Klitschko will certainly need to do so in order to get within punching distance against the much taller Fury. The younger boxer has a three-inch height advantage to boost his four-inch reach advantage.
Klitschko has been a terror against those who have talked trash against him. He’s also on a three-fight knockout streak in bouts held in Germany. If Klitschko find the angles to land his power punches—he should with all his experience—then it may be a short night for the young lion.
Betting on Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury may be less experienced. He may not even have the patience to hang with one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time. But Fury has all the tools to win. He’s ridiculously big at 6-foot-9, weighing over 250 pounds. He also has an 85-inch reach advantage which goes in his favour. Fury also has immense power for a person his size winning 18 of his 24 professional bouts (all wins) by knockout or technical knockout.
It’s going to be a bother for Klitschko to find sparring partners as big and talented as Fury, which could lead to an ill-prepared champion. Fury is also durable, which could help him eat Klitschko’s biggest shots. He’s also very well-conditioned for his size, which could help him last until the later rounds of the fight.
While Fury’s size is surely an advantage, he also has a bad habit of hunching forward. Having his head out of position to take blows is a very bad proposition against a solid, powerful and technical striker like Klitschko. Fury has had difficulty against technical fighters with good jabs. Case in point: Fury was floored by a much smaller Steve Cunningham, a cruiserweight, back in 2013.
Fury’s a very difficult fighter to decipher. He can fight either orthodox or southpaw, allowing him to open up plenty of angles to exploit. But repeatedly switching stances could also hurt the young Englishman; Klitschko could time him while switching from orthodox and southpaw and land a walloping punch with his feet out of position.
Fury’s best chance of the upset is to disrupt Klitschko’s demeanor. He needs to make this an ugly brawling fight, throwing away all of Klitschko’s technical ability. But the old lion is one tough nut to crack; he’ll be very difficult to throw off his game.
Writer’s Prediction
Fury will have a few moments, especially in the earlier rounds. But Klitschko (-500) eventually takes over, landing a lunging right straight to end the fight by knockout in the eighth round. You can also take the total to go under 9.5 rounds at -120 for more value from this fight. Create a betting account now and take a part in history in a huge (literally) heavyweight fight.
